Could Jurassic Park ever really happen? How much of what you saw in Jurassic Park can be considered real? Discuss all of that and more here...

17 May 2005, 03:00

A Friend and I are always arguing over a certain Dinosaur... The almighty King of the Tyrant Lizards -- The T-Rex...We're always arguing... Is the T-Rex a predator... or a scavenger?

Now, in todays' modern society we're blown with images of a meat-eating-hunting-scary-giant T-rex... we're thought to assume right away (judging from size, looks and teeth) that the T-rex is a hunter...

But on the other hand, according to SOME experts... the almight Rex is really a scavenger! Looking closely at the legs bones, they say that the T-rex is designed for Walking long distances not running... They say that the teeth of the Rex is NOT sharp enough for a predator and are not suitable enough for hunting. They even say it was far to heavy to be a hunter, because of it's bulky body...etc.

Is this fact or fiction?

What is the T-rex? Is it really a predator? Or is it really a puny scavenger? WHAT DO YOU THINK? Please do submit YOUR thoughts, Ideas, evidence...etc.

I think it sort of depends on the state of the T-rex. When the T-rex was a juvenile and a young adult it probably was a great hunter and if there was a food sortage and wasn't enough food for other t-rexes then it may have became a scavenger. If a t-rex was injured or to old to chase down it's own prey it would have to become a scavenger in order to survive. It also depends if there was a lot of herbivores in that area. If there wasn't then they would have to scavenge or possibaly even resort to cannibalism. So I think it mostly depends on whether the T-rex was young and healthy, injured old and weak, and on the population of the herbivores.

yeah i think it will all probably depend upon the situation you just can't what it was 90% of the time it will vary according to the environment,abundance of prey,age and number of dead dinosaurs. if there was many dead bodies to be feasted upon then i think it will scavenge more and at the meantime it will hunt less .if there was abundant amounts of prey to eat and good opurtunity to hunt then hunting will be more and scavenging will be less.and as Velociraptor28 said age does play a big factor when the t-rex is at his prime he will probably be the meanest predator and will be capable of hunting any animal he wants.he will be a master of hunting but as he grows older and weaker he will have to scavenge more as it becomes harder for him to overcome and overrun his prey.

[The lawyer seeks shelter from the T.Rex in a bathroom] Dr. Alan Grant: Well where does he think he's going? Dr. Ian Malcolm: When you gotta go, you gotta go

Okay first of all, there is no such thing as a definate scavenger. Hyeanas dont scavenge much, Vulchers often hunt lizards, and the list goes on and on. Plus, these are all small animals, with relativly small amounts of food needed.Now, consider the tyrannosaur. Very large, warmblooded, active animal. Big leg muscles, big head, bone crushing bite. Several Biomechanical observations (read Bakker, Paul, etc.) show that this animal would have died if it took up the exclusive scavenger role.

One thing I dont get: Horner thinks dinosaurs are warm blooded, right? Well, he is being a hypocrite. His T.rex, as he shows it, is a "cold blooded" swamp monster, un able to hunt. But to cover the distances needed to find enough food, it would have to have a slow metabolism to survive the wait. But to get there before bying the farm, it would have to be as fast as a warm blood.

I am not denying that a Tyrannosaur, upon coming upon an edmontosaur carcass, would partake. But the difficaulty of being an exclusivly, or mostly, carrion eating animal is far greater than just hunting and getting fresh meat.

Also, if a old t.rex is having trouble hunting, something that calls for running or at least alot of movement, how would it be able to go to where the carcasses were without dying? Ditto for juveniles (which probably scavenged what their parents brought them) and injured rexes.